Telecommunication service providers are rapidly turning toward Ethernet for a cheaper and more suitable means to backhaul packetized data. When granting end customers' access to their network, these service providers can find it cost effective to utilize the embedded transport infrastructure with its traditional layer 2 protocols. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), such as T1 and T3, has this infrastructure, while traditional layer 2 protocols like Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Multi-Link Point-to-Point Protocol (MLPPP), and Frame Relay are used to encapsulate customers' data.
The customers' data is interworked between the embedded TDM transport with its traditional layer 2 protocols and the Ethernet backhaul. Ethernet is inclusive of both its physical layer 1 transport and its logical layer 2. The layer 2 encapsulates and guides customer data within the Ethernet backhaul. There are considerations for the interworking function other than translating customer data between Ethernet and TDM networks. It is desirable for fault conditions in layers 1 and 2 to be communicated across the interworking function, but currently there is no standard to communicating such fault conditions across the interworking function. A heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art for propagating fault conditions through a packet network without violating applicable protocols, such as Ethernet protocols.